Whispers in the Dark
by TheTrainTicket
Summary: After their village is destroyed, Marik and Ishizu try to live out a new life elsewhere. Marik meets a young girl named Mana, who ends up getting them into the palace. There they learn about the conspiracy behind their past, and what they must do to protect their future.


**A/N: Not a song fic, I promise! Tho if you know me from YT, you probably guessed what this is :'D**

**So I've been asked a few times to turn my Whispers in the Dark amv into a fic. I've been contemplating it over the years, but just didn't think I could pull off writing a romance. But recently, I uploaded an updated version, with a new story and such. So here I am, hoping this'll all work out.**

**This'll be my first YGO multi-chapter fic. I don't have it all written out yet, which is what I normally do for my… one… chapter fic, but that's because of my amv. I know the story, so I won't have to worry about writer's stump. And it'll be nice to fill in the little details I wasn't able to portray in my vid :3**

**Hope you guys like this!**

**Whispers in the Dark**

_He had just been playing. It was late; he had been minding his own business, not quite ready for bed yet, when suddenly his sister grabbed him. She was terrified and kept glancing out the window. Marik didn't get it – then he heard them._

_The screams._

_Without another word, the two fled into the night. As they reached the mountains, they looked back and saw their city completely engulfed in flames._

…

Ishizu tried very hard to make them as invisible as possible. When they entered the marketplace that afternoon, she asked few questions, stayed to the side, and kept her head down. Her brother continually tried to run off, his curiosity getting the better of him, so she held onto his hand.

"Marik, just stay close to me!" She hissed.

"But sister, there's so much going on!" He ran in front of her, despite the fact that she still had a grip on him.

Ishizu pulled him back. "We can't be drawing too much attention to ourselves! You'll get to see the whole village in time, so just slow down. I'll let go if you promise to stay by my side – promise?"

"Promise!"

She let go and immediately Marik ran off into the crowd. Ishizu rolled her eyes. Oh well, how much attention could one little boy draw anyway? So long as she could still see him, they should be fine. She picked up her pace a little to keep up.

It was very important that nobody asked about the kids who randomly appeared in their village one day. They had to be in the background. And when they grew up, they'd be two adults in the background. Just people who existed.

Not two kids who had escaped the attack on Kul Elna.

She still didn't understand why those events took place – all she knew was someone wanted her people dead, and that she and her brother were on their own now. She, as the older sibling, would have to look after Marik. Maybe she could find work somewhere, they were pretty good at pick-pocketing if nothing else. They could get by, here in a new village, about to start completely over, and – _darn it, Marik, stop wandering off!_

Ishizu sighed as she followed her brother to… wherever it was he had been running to. He would grow out of this adventurous side when they got used to this place and he had matured a bit… she hoped.

Wait a minute, who was he talking to?

…

Marik had been sheltered all of his life. His father had been over-protective, probably because his mother had died giving birth to him. As a result, Marik had never gone outside much, and when he did it was always near their house. So a trip to the marketplace was something completely new and exciting.

The shops spread out a while longer, and he kept walking, his head constantly turning, wanting to take everything in. There was a little opening in between two tents, and beyond that point, he spotted a plum tree and two kids standing by it. He paused.

Marik didn't know what it was like to have friends his own age. His sister was his best friend, and her friends were his friends. And they were all older than him. Everyone in this new village was an adult; the few kids he had seen were bigger than him.

Which is probably how she had caught his attention. This girl… she looked about his age, maybe even younger. The boy with her was older, but that didn't stop him from being curious. The two weren't too far away. She was trying to pluck a plum, but couldn't quite reach, so the older boy had to get it for her.

"Marik," his sister said, catching up to him. "Come on, we should get going – "

He ignored her and ran towards the kids.

"Hi, I'm Marik, who are you?"

The girl didn't answer, and the boy she was with stepped in front of her.

"I don't think I've ever seen you before." He said. "Where are you from?"

Marik coward back a little. "I'm uh…"

…

"Marik!" Ishizu was starting to panic now, but she tried to control her tone of voice. "Please, forgive my brother." She looked down at him. "Let's not bother anyone, you promised you wouldn't wander off!"

"Your highness!" They turned to see another boy walking up to them. He had long brown hair and markings under his eyes. Was he a servant? And what did he mean… 'your highness'…

Realization washed over Ishizu when she knew exactly who they were talking to. Without a second thought, she grabbed Marik by the wrist.

"Come on, we really need to go!"

If they were going to be invisible, speaking with their future pharaoh was not the wisest choice.

…

Marik continued to look at the girl. He was irritated now – he had only wanted to play and Ishizu was dragging him away! He kept his gaze on her though, not willing to turn around until they reached the tents.

She was looking back at him too, and suddenly shouted out: "My name's Mana!"

…

_Marik had a secret._

_His sister thought he didn't realize the extent of what had happened, that they were just going to a new town as an adventure or something. But he understood._

_His village had been destroyed. His mother had died, and now even his father was dead. Their brother Rishid was dead. They would never go back to their home. It was gone. It was all gone._

_And it filled him with such rage…_

_Sometimes… he didn't feel like himself. Sometimes he felt… stronger, yet angrier. It scared him, but he couldn't get rid of it. So he buried these feelings deep within his heart._

_He didn't tell anyone. Ishizu was the only one around anyway, and he didn't want to scare her. So he just stayed quiet about it._

…

The next day, Marik went out, telling his sister he was hungry and would go pick some fruit. This was partially true, and with the secrets Marik kept, he was somewhat used to lying to Ishizu.

He went back to that plum tree he had met Mana at. He looked around, hoping to spot her. Marik could tell his sister it had been a coincidence. After a couple of minutes, however, he sighed and turned to go back.

Then something hit him on the head.

"Ouch!" Marik looked down at his feet. Oh, a plum fell off… well at least now he had some fruit to show Ishizu. But then he heard giggling and turned his head upward. "Mana?"

There she was, laughing away on a branch. "Hi, Marik!"

He smiled. "How'd you get all the way up there?"

She took out some kind of staff from behind her. "With my magic wand!"

"You can do magic?"

"Yup! My Master Mahad's teaching me! I just started today and one day I'm going to be the very best spell caster in the pharaoh's court!"

Marik gasped. "Wow, that's amazing!" She was a servant for the pharaoh? Did she get to live in the palace too? "So uh… how are you gonna get down?"

Mana blinked. "Um… uh-oh!"

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot I don't know that spell yet!"

She tried standing up, but almost fell so sat back down. She tried whispering a few rhymes, but nothing happened. Mana shook her wand furiously.

"Why won't you work? I want down!"

"Why don't you just jump?"

"No! I can do it!"

Mana continued to shake her wand. At that point, she really did lose her balance and her body shifted backwards. Marik dove. He slipped trying to move so quickly, and she landed on his back, pressing his face into the ground.

"Good catch, Marik!" She beamed.

He mumbled something but she couldn't understand him. Mana lifted herself off him. "What did you say?"

Marik pushed away from the ground and spat out some dirt. "I said no problem!"

They giggled as she helped him up. "Sorry about that!"

"Don't worry about it, really." He brushed himself off. Normally something like this would've upset him – Marik didn't like getting hurt, and being the youngest he was used to people taking care of him. But he didn't want to seem weak around Mana, especially since she had… that_ one friend_. "So, you can really do magic with that thing?"

He pointed at her wand. She held it up. "Yeah, but only sometimes. Guess it's cuz I'm still new!"

"That's so cool…" he replied dreamily. "I wish I could do magic."

"Maybe I can ask my master if he'll teach you!"

"Y-you'd really do that?"

"Of course! You saved my life!"

Marik blushed. "Not really… I just caught you was all…"

"Mana!" A voice called out, startling both of them. It was the two boys Marik had seen her with yesterday. Instinctively, he sneaked a bit closer to her.

"There you are! Now what did I tell you about going off by yourself?"

"But I wasn't by myself, Master Mahad! Marik was with me!" She pointed, both boys turning their gaze towards him.

"Oh yeah, you're that kid from yesterday, aren't you?"

"Yeah… hi…" he hated how nervous he was suddenly being. Why should he be? He didn't have any problems introducing himself the other day – why did he feel so weird now? "Listen, my sister's probably waiting for me, I should…"

Mana grabbed onto his arm. "No, don't go yet, you didn't ask Mahad!"

He gulped. _Darn it, did she have to bring that up?_

"Ask me what?"

She started swinging her wand around. "Marik wants to learn magic too!"

Marik felt his face grow hot. Something about these boys intimidated him. Probably because they were older, and they outnumbered him. He didn't want to irritate them. And Mana wasn't helping.

"You realize only certain people can become one of the pharaoh's spell casters, right? We can't let just anyone in, especially peasants." Mahad said, crossing his arms. "You have to go through a special test to prove yourself."

"Marik can do it! Can't you Marik?"

Everyone was staring at him.

Part of him just wanted to run away. Go back to Ishizu and pretend today never happened. Going to the plum tree had been a bad idea. Catching Mana had been a bad idea. Stupid Mana.

But then there was another part of him… the part that longed for adventure, the part of him that wanted to see new things and go to new places… Considering his situation now, Marik really couldn't think of a better position than being one of the pharaoh's servants.

"Yeah, I can do it…" he started. "But on one condition."

"You're making dema-" but the other boy cut Mahad off.

"What are your circumstances?"

"My sister gets to come, too."

"Very well, then."

Marik felt himself beaming. Was this really happening? He was going to get a chance to work for the pharaoh? His sister too?

Mana hugged him. "Hooray! And when you pass the test, we can take lessons together!"

"Uh, yeah…" Marik leaned in and hugged her back, not caring that the other boy was glaring at him.

…

**A/N: Probably could've called Ishizu "Isis" but AU so oh well **


End file.
